Things Change Chapter 13

A knock disrupted me from my depressing thoughts, startling me. Who could that be…? Deciding it would be best to at least see who it was, I slowly got up and moved to the door, peeping through the 1-way viewing hole.

Beth.

I made a small, disgusted noise, and headed back for my bed.

Another knock rang out.

“Gwen, I know you’re in there… Please, open up, I really need to talk with you,” I didn’t budge. “Gwen, please! It’s about Cody,” I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t want to hear about him anymore… I hope you’re happy with him,” I growled.

“But…”

“Just go!” I yelled angrily.

“He didn’t cheat on you!” She yelled quickly. My eyes widened a bit.

“…What…?” I stuck a finger in my ear to make sure there wasn’t anything in it.

“I said he didn’t cheat on you…” I raised an eyebrow. “Please, just let me in… I have a lot to discuss…” Still unsure about the situation, I walked back to the door, and unlocked it. I dragged Beth in, locking the door.

“Alright, start talking,” I said, sitting down on the bed. Beth took a small breath, beginning her story.

---

I was back at the pool grounds once again, lying emotionlessly in one of the chairs. There were other people around, but nobody said anything to me. Occasionally they gave me strange looks… They weren’t angry; rather, they were sympathetic… I ignored it, thinking it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. I didn’t see Beth around, which was a good thing as far as I was concerned. I know Gwen hated me at this point, but hearing someone talk like that about her was just… I couldn’t even think of a word to describe it. Regardless, I didn’t want to speak to her for awhile. Hell, I didn’t want to see any girl for that matter… All these couples around me were making me feel even worse…

I had to get away.

I shot up, and quickly made for the hot tub area. At least there I could be alone…

---

“…And once I got Heather sneezed, that was the signal to stage the kiss…” Beth finished nervously. I stared in disbelief at the girl in front of me.

“So… You… You purposely made it look like Cody went at you... Just to break us up!?” My voice rose quickly as I stood. Beth cowered back.

“Y-Yeah…” She stammered.

“Do you even realize what kind of pain I was put through seeing that!? Do you realize how badly I must’ve hurt Cody! I punched him clean in the face for God’s sake!” I screamed, furious beyond all reason.

“G-Gwen, let me…”

“Let you what? Go try to wreck someone else’s life!?” I stood over her threateningly. “I didn’t know what pain was until today, Beth…”

“Look, I’m sorry…” I didn’t let her finish.

“Sorry!? That’s all you got? Sorry doesn’t solve every problem, Beth!” I raged on.

“I don’t know what I was thinking, alright!?” Beth suddenly yelled. I shut up. “I was just… So jealous of you and Cody…” She sighed. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. Look, you have to believe me… I would never go as far as to sabotage a relationship like that… But…” She made a fist. “Heather… Caught me in a moment of weakness… I was so angry about seeing you two so madly in love at the time that I couldn’t resist Heather’s offer…” My glare lightened a bit. I knew how submissive Beth could be… Especially when she was in emotional distress. “I may have bad mouthed you or something… But I never wanted to do what I did… I just… Wanted Cody so much…” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Look… I know you really like Cody… But chasing after him constantly isn’t going to win him over…”

“I know… But…”

“Look, I know how bad it is to lose someone you think you love… But remember, there’s someone even better out there for you, Beth… Cody’s a great guy, but…” I sighed, feeling selfish about what I was going to say. “Cody’s… Mine…” She looked down. “But there’s someone else out there with your name on it, I can assure you… He’s just not one of the guys we met at the island,” Beth thought.

“Maybe you’re right…” She sighed, but smiled. “Yeah… I know you’re right…”

“It’s like Leshawna told me, you don’t have to have a boyfriend in high school… You may not meet the right guy until later. I just lucked out,” Beth smiled.

“Thanks…” She said quietly. “You know… I was wrong; you really do deserve someone like Cody… You’re a lot nicer than you let on…”

“Hey, I have an image to keep…” I said. We both laughed.

“Well… I think you should find Cody… He’s really let down about what happened…” I nodded, getting up. “Oh, wait…”

“Huh?”

“…You got scissors…?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… What for…?”

“Oh, I just want to give Heather a parting gift…” She said, shrugging. I smirked, opening a drawer.

“And to think, her hair just grew back…” I said, handing her some scissors. She left the room after that. I smiled to myself, thinking about how Heather would react to seeing her hair gone again… But no time for that now! I needed to find Cody…

---

I sighed, the hot water not helping me in any way. My heart still ached; Gwen was gone, and I couldn’t seem to accept it and move on… And I was starting to think I never would. Gwen was just… Perfect in every way… Looks, attitude, intelligence, style… Good lord, she was everything… And now she was lost forever.

Then I heard footsteps.

I sighed, not wanting to deal with anyone.

“Look, if you’ve come here to yell at me about cheating on Gwen, don’t bother… Everyone else has…”

“Actually…” My eyes widened. A lot. “I’m here to see if you still love me…” I whipped around, my mouth wide open.

“…G…G…Gwen…!?” I stuttered, color leaving my face. She smiled warmly as she got into the tub next to me. “What… What are…” I started to breath rapidly. What was she doing here? Was I dreaming? Did I fall asleep in the tub?

The sudden feeling of her lips touching mine made me realize this was no dream.

Gwen parted from the kiss quickly, a sad look on her face.

“Cody… Can you ever forgive me…?” She suddenly asked.

“Wha…?”

“Beth told me everything… How she kissed you… How Heather convinced her to try to break us up…” My eyes widened more.

“She… She what!?” This was the first I’d heard of it.

“Yeah… But don’t be mad at her; it was all Heather… And Beth’s taking care of her…” I remained quiet.

“…So… You’re… Not mad anymore…?”

“Of course I’m not…” She felt my eye; I winced a bit. “Oh…” She said, worried. “Did I really hurt you that much…?” I smiled a bit.

“Yeah… You’re pretty strong, you know…?” She blushed, half embarrassed and half ashamed. “But it’s no big deal!” I said, beaming. “I’ve had worse!” We were silent once again, until she sighed.

“I think I got too angry with you… I mean, I didn’t even let you try to explain…”

“Hey, it looked like I had her. Would you have believed me if I said she tricked me into it? Of course not… I wouldn’t believe it…” She smiled slightly.

“So… YOU’RE not mad about what I did anymore…?”

“Of course not!” I assured her. “This shiner makes me feel tough, anyways…” She smirked.

“Even though you got hit by a girl?”

“Hey, I don’t see anything wrong with that,” I said defensively. She giggled a bit.

“I know… You’re not like Ezekiel…” she said.

“Well… To answer your question… Yes, I still love you more than anything in the world…” She blushed slightly, smiling.

“I know you do…” She said, sighing happily. “You’ve said it too many times to count…” I grinned widely. “But…” She sighed. “I… Never returned the favor…” My grin faded. She sighed. “Cody… I know I said I wasn’t sure, but… Now I am…” I swallowed a bit. “I spoke with Trent earlier today, and… Well, he made me realize something…”

“Realize what…?”

“Cody…” My eyes widened a bit. “…I love you… With all my heart…”

In a way, I knew that was coming… But I still hugged her tightly.

“Oh Gwen… You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to hear that…!” I said, a few happy tears falling from my face.

“A few months?” She guessed, smirking. I laughed.

“Something like that…” I let her go, looking into her emerald eyes once again. “So, we’re officially back together then?”

“Yep!” She said, smiling happily.

“Good…” I sighed happily, thanking God for this gift…

“Cody…” I looked at her. “I know… I know we just made up and all… But I love you, and you love me, and…” She wrapped her arms around my waist slowly and lovingly. “I don’t care how fast we go anymore…” She clamped her mouth on mine quickly and rather fiercely… Not that I minded… I smiled to myself, moving my arms around her hips and moving down… She stopped.

“Uh…”

“Woah… I never said you could touch my butt!” She laughed, pulling us back into the kiss. I laughed to myself, resting my hands on her back. We quickly got much more passionate with our kissing; it wasn’t long before we were doing what we had done back at my room this morning… Only this time, nobody was around to cut our time short. We had all the time in the world to ourselves…

Gwen was mine again… and I’d never let her go…